Perot in $200M Deal to Overhaul Fed Student Aid Delivery

The U.S. Department of Education awarded Perot Systems two information technology contracts with a combined value of more than $200 million to outsource data center operations and re-engineer management under the office of Federal Student Aid.

Under the performance-based Virtual Data Center (VDC) contract, Perot will provide a single computing environment for hosting and processing Federal Student Aid’s financial aid delivery systems, which annually support delivery of $78 billion in postsecondary student financial aid. Perot was also picked as the service provider for Federal Student Aid’s Integrated Partner Management (IPM) contract. The IPM manages thousands of providers of Title IV aid to students. Under the IPM contract, Perot will integrate and streamline multiple disparate legacy systems. The performance-based, fixed-price award is valued at approximately $17 million with a delivery time of 30 months.

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C.U.N.Y. Making Student Info Available Via Cell Phone

City University of New York’s Baruch College has launched a service that allows students to access course information, homework assignments, and campus computer lab availability via their cell phones. The systems, which uses a version of the Blackboard campus management platform as an interface, also lets students participate in surveys, start telephonic class discussions, arrange study groups, or receive alerts from the college.

Baruch tested its alerts this summer, informing freshmen scheduled for an orientation that the campus was closed because of an August 3 power outage. The college’s Air Baruch program, which began last week, takes advantage of the fact that more than 90 percent of students own or use mobile phones.

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